Stepbrother!
by NotUrAverageMusician
Summary: Cosette's life turns upside down when her father gets engaged a new woman, Enjolras's mom! The two new siblings band together to stop their parents from getting married with help from their friends, but is that really what they want? Could these opposite teenagers actually become friends? E/E C/M
1. Chapter 1

Stepbrother?!

By: NotUrAverageMusician

Cosette anxiously waited by the top window of her house. She was in her secret hideout, the upstairs attic. Whenever she wanted some peace and quiet or wanted to cry without her father detecting it, she'd always come up to the attic. It was quite a cozy place, really. She had fixed it up with rugs and throw pillows and there was a big window that let in the light. She had even gone through the trouble to tack up some of her favorite pictures on the walls, ones of her friends, the beach, and most importantly, her mother.

She looked out the window, watching each car go down the street and waiting for the one that would pull into her driveway.

She wondered what her new stepmother's car would look like. She wondered what her actual stepmother would look like. Her father hadn't wanted to introduce her to Cosette until he knew for sure that him and Mary would stay together. That was the only thing that Cosette knew about this mysterious lady, that her name was Mary. And of course there was the 'she's as beautiful as the sun' and 'she's so kind and sweet' all the time. It seemed like Cosette's father talked about her so much, yet Cosette still hardly knew anything about her.

She remembered when Jean Valjean told her that he was engaged.

"You're insane, dad!" She remembered yelling, "You can't just marry someone that you met at the soup kitchen!"

Valjean had chuckled at this, "Mary and I have known each other for a long time and I really do love her. And yes I met her while volunteering at the soup kitchen, but just because she needs the food doesn't make her any less of a person than you are."

"No, that's not what I meant, father. I just think that I should've met this lady before you flipping proposed to her!"

Valjean had sighed at this, feeling guilty, "I'm sorry, honey, but there just was never a good time. You're always so busy with cheerleading and scholastic decathlon, and all your honors classes."

Cosette reeled on him, "Oh, so this is _my_ fault? I would have made time to meet her if you had just asked!"

"I'm sorry." Was all Valjean had said.

Cosette remembered running upstairs and into the attic and not coming back down until night. She knew it was a childish thing to do, but it was all she could really think of doing at the time. She was horribly mad at her father, the only other time she had been that mad was when he spelt her name wrong when he signed her up for middle school after being homeschooled. Everyone called her Colette for the better part of sixth grade.

And now she was back in the attic again. Waiting for her new 'amazing' stepmother. She was scared about this lady though. Of course Cosette had watched Cinderella. She feared about her new mother being evil like the one in the movie. When she voiced this to her father he just laughed and said, "Mary is so nice. She'd be the fairy godmother."

It was getting ridiculous how many compliments he was giving her.

And the bottom line was that Cosette didn't want a stupid stepmother. She liked things just the way they were now. Cosette did want her father to be happy of course, but this was taking away some of Cosette's happiness. She turned her attention back to the window and the busy vehicles bustling around the streets.

Suddenly, a car caught Cosette's attention. It was the only beat up truck out of all the sleek and fancy cars on the street. It had a huge dent in the front and chipping gray paint.

And Cosette watched in horror as that truck pulled into her driveway.

It was like a giant weight had been placed on her stomach. Her fate was sealed. Her stepmother had arrived. The lady in that car would be getting married to her father this weekend.

The door opened and a woman stepped out. Cosette noticed she was tall and had long blonde curly hair. Not unlike Cosette's. She had brown eyes and she wore a huge smile on her face. She had blue jeans and a green T-shirt. Cosette wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting her stepmother to be like, but she most certainly wasn't expecting that!

Mary actually looked nice and she had one of those happy and confident auras. Cosette was shocked. She had been planning on staying in her attic as this new lady arrived, but now she had some interest in what this lady was like.

But then, things went downhill.

Then the passenger side door opened. A boy stepped out. He had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a red flannel shirt and dark jeans. Cosette watched, eyes wide, as he looked around at his new surroundings, a scowl on his face.

Cosette knew who this boy was. AJ Enjolras. The most annoying guy in her grade.

"Cosette!" called her father, "They're here! Come down."

_What's Enjolras doing here?_ Cosette thought, _There's only supposed to be Mary coming._

"Cosette," her father yelled again, "Come down right now."

Cosette reluctantly jogged down the stairs in her sweatpants and varsity cheerleading T-shirt, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. She decided she wasn't going to jump to conclusions. It was completely realistic that Enjolras was just a friend of Mary's and helping her move in. Cosette reminded herself not to panic.

She waited with her father in the living room until there was a knock on the door. Valjean visibly brightened as soon as the noise came and jumped up to open the door.

Mary walked in first and hugged Cosette's father immediately. Cosette could see Enjolras behind her making a face at the gesture.

"Cosette, meet Mary and her son, AJ. AJ, this is my daughter, Cosette."

That was when Enjolras actually looked farther than the doorway to see Valjean's daughter. His blue eyes grew wide and a look of horror flashed across his face that was mirrored by Cosette's. They locked eyes and both of them came to the horrible reality that was now their life.

"WHAT!?" The two children exclaimed at the exact same time.

"You two know each other?" Mary asked, innocently.

"We go to the same school." Was all Enjolras said.

"Well now you're brother and sister." Cosette's father smiled, as if he was telling them that they were getting a puppy.

"Step." Cosette grumbled under her breath, "_Step_ brother."

"Well, technically." Mary admitted.

There was an awkward silence that hung over the group.

Valjean was the one to break it with a cough to clear his throat, "Why don't you show AJ to his room. You know, the one across from yours."

"You mean the _guest_ room?" Cosette sneered at her father. Enjolras rolled his eyes.

"Ah, yes." Valjean said uncomfortably, "The guest room. Now go on."

Cosette reluctantly stood up from her spot on the chair and started off upstairs, leaving her new stepbrother to follow behind her.

On the way up the stairs Cosette realized just how dire the situation at hand was. Now she would have to live with AJ Enjolras. The one who got suspended for a week because he tried to campaign to get better school lunches by having the kids go on a hunger strike. The one who wouldn't be seen without wearing his weirdo red fleece jacket. The one who was the star of the soccer team, but hangs out with the art nerds. AJ Enjolras was an enigma that no one really cared to figure out.

And now he was living with Cosette.

A stepmother was bad enough, but now a brother turns the entire thing into a 'blended family' situation. Cosette had always been an only child. It had always been her father and her. A new mom she could deal with. Not a brother.

"So here's your room, I guess." Cosette opened the guest room door. It was a small room with a bed with a green blanket, a table, and a closet. Nothing really fancy, the Valjean's never really had guests anyway so it wasn't a top priority. She took out her iPhone and started to text Eponine about how horrible her life was now.

"Not for long." Cosette heard Enjolras grumble under his breath as he pushed in front of the other blonde and slumped his backpack on the floor. Only bothering to take out a beaten up soccer ball.

"What did you say?" Cosette said, jerking her head up from her phone.

Enjolras chuckled as he fell back onto the bed and started passing the soccer ball back and forth in his hands.

"Oh, you think you're the only one who doesn't like this?" Enjolras sneered, "Well newsflash, princess, I hate my mom marrying your dad as much as you do. And I'm not sitting around and letting my whole life crumple around me. I'm going to do something about this." Then he went back to juggling his soccer ball.

Cosette was shocked to hear him say such a thing, "But they're getting married!"

Enjolras laughed, "Hey, they aren't married _yet_. Just leave it to me."

Now it was Cosette's turn to laugh, "Yeah, okay, because that good school lunch campaign went _so well_." The Cosette saw the writing on the walls. She could break her dad up with Mary. She and Enjolras could go back where they came from and things could be how they were before. She could deal with AJ for a little while in order to get her dad back. She made her decision right then and there. "I want in."

"No." His answer was immediate and blunt.

"I know this house like the back of my hand and I know what makes my dad tick. Face it. You need me."

Enjolras looked like he was going to protest, then he relented, "Okay, fine. Now get out of my room."

"Gladly."

And Cosette stormed across the hall to her bedroom where she slammed the door behind her and for the first time in her life, clicked the lock on the knob.

* * *

**What do you guys think? I really want to hear from you so review, review, review!**

**I've been loving Les Mis for a while now, but this is my first story in the section. I had always thought that Enjolras and Cosette could be really good friends and that's how I came up with the idea of this story. There won't be anything romantic between them, but there will be some romance between other characters in the story, don't worry!**

**Have a great day!**

**-NotUrAverageMusician**


	2. Chapter 2

Enjolras didn't like living with the princess of the eleventh grade, but he did really like her house. He took some time to explore in the time before dinner that night. He insisted it was for recon for his plan, and not to see if the Valjean's had an indoor pool (Even though he really hoped there would be one).

Cosette had disappeared to somewhere or another. She wasn't in her room and that was what had made Enjolras wonder how many amazing places there were to see in the new house.

Enjolras's first response as he had emerged from his mom's car that afternoon was that the Valjean's lived in a castle. It had to be four stories tall and it was wide too. Fit for the mayor of the town, and that was because Jean was the mayor of the town. Bottom line: he was rich.

Most of the time, Enjolras hated rich people. Ones who always flaunt around their fancy purses and expensive watches. They always seem to think that they're better than people like Enjolras. He had learned about it in school, classism, it was called.

But after the brief conversation he had with his new stepfather, he had been convinced that Jean was not one of those people. His daughter? Maybe…

As Enjolras walked around the house he made sure to be really quiet. His mom and Jean were downstairs being all lovey-dovey. Even the thought disgusted Enjolras to the bone. He wondered how long that stage would last.

He stepped across a hallway and up a flight of twisty stairs. He opened the first door he saw and realized it was a whole workout room, practically a gym. It was complete with mirrors on the walls and a stereo for blasting music. The entire place was crammed with barbells and there was a treadmill and elliptical. Enjolras couldn't wait to try it out.

_Snap out of it_, Enjolras thought to himself, _You're not going to be staying here for long._

He turned to look at the next room, but was drawn to something above. A thin chain hung from the ceiling that was in the center of a small door, Enjolras had one of these himself in his old apartment. He knew that if you pulled down the chain a the door would open, letting down a ladder that you could climb that could get you to an attic. Enjolras's old house was small which made for a small attic, but Enjolras wondered how big of an attic could fit in this castle.

He was about to pull the chain and find out, but then he heard his stepfather's voice from downstairs, "Cosette! AJ! Time for dinner!"

Enjolras sighed and started to make his way downstairs. He'd have to remind Cosette that he went by AJ when his mom was around. Enjolras was his school name only. It was what his dead dad went by so Enjolras was quick to make that his name at school. But when his mom was around he'd only go by AJ because he didn't want her to know that he wasn't over his father's death, even if he acted like he was.

Suddenly he heard a creak coming from up the stairs. Worried someone was breaking in, Enjolras ran back up where he had come from.

Just in time to see Cosette close the attic door behind her. When she turned around and saw Enjolras there, she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"What were you doing up there?" Enjolras asked, off put from her expression.

"Just um… trying to find something in the attic." Cosette smiled shakily, "Nope, not there."

Enjolras was about to press more, but then his own mother called again to come down for dinner and Cosette raced by him down the stairs, her long blonde hair flying behind her. Enjolras trailed behind her, not really wanting to get to the dining room. Eating with everyone around the same table would be like eating as a family and Enjolras's family was just fine without Valjean and Cosette. Having dinner together was like sealing the deal that eventually Valjean was going to be Enjolras's father. No one could replace his dad. No one could even come close.

The dining room was a huge place on the first floor, just next to the entrance room. There was a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling, sending twinkly reflections from the glass all around the room. Enjolras compared it to eating in a fancy restaurant.

"What's for dinner, dad?" asked Cosette as she set plates around the table, she had arrived just a bit earlier than Enjolras.

"Chicken with grape tomatoes and fried basil." Said Enjolras's mom with a wave of his hand. She was bringing a dish to the table. Enjolras was aware of how good the air smelled.

"Woah." Enjolras gaped as he looked at the delicious food on the table, "You cooked something edible?" he asked his mom.

Cosette laughed and Mary's cheeks flushed.

"I cooked it." Voiced Jean Valjean as he walked into the room.

"Oh." Enjolras said. He didn't want to tell him how great the food looked or anything so he just stayed silent. He realized that he had no idea what to do. Cosette was setting the table, his mom was bringing over food, and Jean was attending to something on the stove. Enjolras realized he didn't know where the dishes were or where to sit at the table. The unfamiliarly of the Valjean's house put him on edge. Everything about it was well… different. It was darker than his apartment and it smelled like scented candles and it was just too big. All Enjolras wanted to do was run up to his new room that at least had his soccer ball unpacked. One thing that reminded him of home.

He decided to watch Cosette to see how she acted so he didn't do anything stupid. Cosette started walking to the kitchen and Enjolras followed after her. He watched as she grabbed a glass out of the cabinet next to the sink. Then she filled it up with water. Next she opened up the freezer and grabbed some ice out of an ice tray and dropped them in her cup. Enjolras mimicked her every move shortly after.

He watched as Cosette sat down at the head of the table, across from her father. She put her drink next to her plate and sat down.

"Cosette, maybe Mary could sit there now?" Valjean asked his daughter politely. Enjolras saw Mary blush behind his shoulder.

"But father," Cosette protested, "This is _my_ seat!"

Jean sighed, "Now that Mary is here, you can take the middle seat between us. AJ you can sit across from Cosette."

As soon as Cosette found her new seat, she looked like she was hurt that her father didn't want her to sit at the head of the table anymore. It made Enjolras want to roll his eyes that she was acting like such a princess.

Once everyone was around the table, food was served, and the silence began. Before that Enjolras thought nothing was more awkward than trying to open a pull door by pushing on it for about a minute, then texting all your friends you're locked out (that happened when he was at a new school for travel soccer, no one let him live that down for months). But eating dinner with your new family that was forced upon you was definitely worse. Enjolras had a bunch of classes with Cosette, both were considered to be pretty smart and were in all the honors and AP classes, but Enjolras realized that he never really got to know the girl. And he'd never seen Valjean in his life.

"So." His mother started, "How are you, Cosette?"

"Fine, thanks." Cosette said quietly as she picked at her food. She must not feel hungry when she's nervous, but Enjolras kept shoveling food into his mouth, which was what he had always done when he was anxious.

"Good."

Then silence fell upon the group once again, until Valjean started talking.

"How's school for you, AJ?" asked the man.

"Pretty good." Enjolras said through a mouth full of food. Cosette slightly smiled, her first non-scowl of the day.

"I've seen you at a couple of soccer games already this season, you've got quite a talent for the sport." Valjean commented.

Enjolras made an effort to gulp down all his food, "Umph... thanks."

He hoped that his stepfather would just stop there and give up talking like his mother had, but Valjean was not deferred as easily.

"So what do you like to do other than play soccer?"

Enjolras shrugged, wishing he'd end the conversation, "I like to read."

"Reading is great!" Jean exclaimed, "What's you're favorite book?"

Enjolras raised an eyebrow, but his mom kicked him under the table, "I like reading about history, French revolution is my favorite." He said hurriedly.

Valjean clapped, "Well there's something you have in common with Cosette. She always loved the French revolution, she talked all about it when she was being taught it at school."

Cosette blushed, "Father, please."

Enjolras almost laughed out loud, who would of thought little miss princess would be such a history nerd. On second thought, who would of thought little miss princess would have anything in common with Enjolras.

But like it was his ultimate goal in life, Jean Valjean found dozens of things that the two new stepsiblings had in common. They both liked cookie dough ice cream, they both have blonde curly hair, they both hated baseball, and they both liked waking up early in the morning.

All those things were really stupid things to have in common, Enjolras had thought. It certainly didn't mean at all that they were meant to be best friends, which was what it seemed that Valjean was implying.

Then it was time to leave the table and Mary and Jean went to go chat somewhere or another. And just like that, Enjolras was back in his room dribbling his soccer ball back and forth, back and forth. Steady in rhythm, so calming that he could fall asleep right there. _At least one thing could stay the same in this new situation, _he thought. It was only 8:00, but Enjolras was seriously debating going to bed until he heard a knock on his door.

"It's open." Enjolras called, thinking it was his mom.

Instead Cosette stepped in to the room, her ever-present iPhone gone.

"What do _you _want?" Enjolras asked. He showed off a bit by spinning the soccer ball in the air before it fell neatly back on his other foot and the dribbling resumed.

If Cosette was impressed, she didn't show it.

"So we talked about a plan to break our parents up today…" Cosette started.

Enjolras then shot up from his bed and shut the door, "Let's not call that plan by what it is… how about Operation

"Well," Cosette started, "When does that whole plan start?"

Enjolras turned his head and actually looked at her for the first time that day. She seemed like a different Cosette than she was at school. Her hair was in a messy bun and there were dark circles under her eyes. Was her mascara smeared? It appalled Enjolras that Cosette would cry over something like this. She must really have been bothered about the whole new family thing. It seemed like Cosette was really close to her father, was she crushed that he didn't tell her about his fiancé?

A new feeling surged through Enjolras. Something he had never felt before. It was a complete overwhelming desire to protect this girl from any harm that could come to her. He shook the feeling from his head; he was starting to act like an older brother. _Where did that come from?_ Thought Enjolras, _I'm going to leave as soon as possible. I'll never be her older brother and I wouldn't want to anyway. _He convinced himself.

"It'll start soon." He said as he returned his gaze to his soccer ball, "Do you have a really close and trustworthy friend? Because we're going to need some help."

Cosette nodded, "Yes, Eponine. She's been my BFF since first grade."

Enjolras hardly knew Cosette's friend. He thought they had been in some grade school class or another, but they'd never really talked to each other. She seemed nice enough, though, so Enjolras was fine with it.

"Alright then," Enjolras agreed, "Ask to have her over tomorrow and I'll bring Marius. We'll work from there."

Cosette nodded again and this time Enjolras noticed she sniffled. She excused herself and went back to her room.

Enjolras sighed out loud. So many conflicting thoughts swirled around in his head, but he was too tired to sort them all out. At least now he had a tiny formation of a plan rooted in his mind. And with that, he pulled off his shirt and slid under the blankets of his new bed. Everything about it felt wrong, but Enjolras pushed the sensation away and slowly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

That night Cosette couldn't get to sleep for a _long_ time.

She had twisted and turned in her bed in all directions, but she couldn't get comfortable. Turning on the lamp on her bedside table, she grabbed her phone and a sweatshirt, which she pulled on over her tank top.

Then she shut off the light again and silently tip toed to her door. She was heading to the kitchen to get a snack; she had hardly eaten during dinner and now was paying the price.

She slipped into the hall. Her father's room, which he now shared with Mary, was upstairs and Cosette didn't think she had a chance of running into either of them from the sounds of snores she heard coming from that direction.

Was Enjolras up? Cosette carefully stepped across the hall and opened his door just a crack to see. Inside Enjolras was sound asleep on the bed, his pillow tucked under his arm. His chest moving up and down in that rhythmic pattern of breathing you get when you're asleep. Cosette was thankful he was out of it too.

She moved on, she had long since mastered the art of walking down the wooden stairs without making a single noise to wake anyone up. When she stepped into the kitchen she started in her usual late night kitchen raid routine.

Cosette opened the freezer and took out the chocolate chip ice cream (the kind that she always made sure was in the Valjean house at all times) and went to the silverware drawer to get a spoon. Then she walked straight to the living room and sat on the leather sofa. She sighed as she made herself comfy. Sometimes Cosette thought it would be much easier to sleep on the couch.

After a couple of spoonfulls of ice cream she pulled out her cell phone.

It was 1:46 so Eponine wouldn't be up now to chat.

So she turned on the TV. Cosette had found a long time ago that if she turned on the TV at night really soft and if she shut the door, her father wouldn't wake up. Now she had to worry about two other people finding her. She hoped Enjolras and his mother were heavy sleepers.

She only half paid attention to Pretty Little Liars. She was trying to organize all her thoughts into one conclusion about how she felt about the Enjolras's moving in.

Mary seemed nice. That was the ultimate problem. She was super sweet, but Cosette couldn't stand her because she was taking over everything. Her father hardly talked to her earlier today, and when he did it was to scold her in the morning

It almost made Cosette want to cry.

Everything used to be perfect before her dad started to date Mary. Cosette had never ever said a harsh word to him and he never really treated her like a child. Also Valjean spent every free moment with her until he started to meet up with Mary. Stuff that Cosette had taken for granted until now like helping her study for a test or baking cookies with her. Was it all over?

But Enjolras had promised. He said that he could get things to go back to normal. And Cosette hardly knew the guy, but she did know that not once would AJ Enjolras break a promise or tell a secret. That was something everyone in the school knew. Enjolras was just that guy in everyone's class who was reliable and strong and steadfast.

Cosette really wanted to have faith in him. She hoped everything would work out the way the two of them wanted it.

_One day more,_ Cosette thought. That was her dad's slogan. Whenever she had to study really hard for a test it was always 'one day more, my darling.' Or when she was at the sleep away camp that she begged her father to let her go to. On the first night she got incredibly homesick and she called her father on the phone and he said 'one day more, Cosette, I think you'll really like it there.' Camp Lakehaven was where she had met Eponine for the first time and ever since they were best friends. She had to just keep trucking, the stepmonsters were only temporary.

Suddenly, Cosette was hit with a wave of tiredness. She needed to get some sleep or she wouldn't be able to stay awake in class. Like a cat, she scampered up the steps two at a time and fell back asleep under her quilt on her bed.

Cosette jogged to the kitchen where her father was scrambling eggs on a skillet. The smell of sausage and orange juice was in the air.

"Morning, Cosette!" called Valjean in a happy voice, "Have a good sleep?"

Cosette nodded and grabbed a piece of sausage off the skillet and stuck it in her mouth. It wasn't hot enough to burn her tongue, luckily.

"Yeah, I was thinking of driving to school a bit earlier today." Cosette proposed as she shoved some toast down her throat, "Eponine and I made arrangements to talk before school." As soon as she woke up in the morning, Cosette had texted her friend to get to school a bit before the bell so she could vent.

"Sure, but you'll have to take AJ." Her father said. He gestured to Enjolras as he came down the stairs. You could seriously lure that boy anywhere with the smell of food cooking.

"_But father_." Cosette hissed through her teeth.

Valjean gave his daughter a look, then sighed and turned to Enjolras, who was busy buttering some toast of his own, "So are you going to drive to school using your mother's truck?"

Enjolras blushed, "I- erm- I can't drive yet."

Cosette raised an eyebrow, "You didn't pass?"

"No, no, no." Enjolras quickly made clear, then he muttered, "I'm just not seventeen yet."

Cosette knew that she shouldn't find glee in that statement, but all she could think of was that she was older than Enjolras, making _her_ the older sister. For now, of course. She didn't want it to last too long.

"Cosette would be happy to drive you!" her father exclaimed.

Cosette silently fumed, but continued on eating a plate of eggs.

Enjolras nodded and excused himself back upstairs.

Valjean turned to his daughter as Enjolras disappeared, "Do you think AJ likes me?"

Cosette almost choked on her breakfast, "What?!"

"You know, I'm going to be his father soon and I want to make sure he likes me." Jean said.

"But- but!" Cosette stuttered, shocked, "Why do you care? And you'll only be his stepfather. That's hardly a father."

Now it was Jean's turn to look shocked, "Cosette, it matters a lot whether he likes me or not. If this blended family is going to work out, then everyone has to get along."

"But Papa-" Cosette tried to interrupt.

"-I'd want the same to be true for you and Mary." Jean continued, "I need to make sure that everyone is close."

Cosette couldn't think of anything to say. She was surprised that he was thinking more about how herself and Enjolras felt rather than how Mary and him loved each other.

Suddenly, she knew exactly what to do for the big plan.

"Alright, Papa," Cosette tried to smile sincerely, "I understand. I'll try to make things work too."

Jean hugged his daughter, "Thank you, now go on and get your school bag and get going if you want to be early."

Cosette nodded and ran upstairs, two at a time.

Enjolras was brushing his teeth in the bathroom next to his room (_another_ _stepmonster_ _invasion_, Cosette thought).

Cosette leaned on the doorframe, "I have a fail proof idea for our plan." She said.

Enjolras turned around with a raised blonde eyebrow and a green toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

"We can't talk here, though." Cosette whispered, looking around the hallway to make sure that they were alone, "Let's wait until after school."

Enjolras nodded and spat in the sink. He put his toothbrush away and followed Cosette into her room.

"Wait- what sort of idea?" he begged, "C'mon, you've got to tell me."

Cosette shook her head as she filled her pink backpack, "Sorry, Enj, you'll just have to wait until later. Now get you're things- we're leaving now."

Enjolras huffed his way back to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Cosette sat there on her bed for a moment, caught by surprise. She had just called who she considered to be one of the most annoying kids in her grade: Enj. Like a nickname. Like she was starting to become friends with him.

_That won't happen_, Cosette decided, _We're only siblings_ _for the rest of the week._

She met Enjolras at the garage door, which opened into the dark room, but when Cosette turned the light on, Enjolras's jaw dropped.

Inside were two fancy cars. One big and black that was shiny and sleek. Then there was Cosette's car, which was red- Enjolras's favorite color- and it had no roof. It was a convertible and Enjolras ran up to it and stroked its leather seats.

"This is incredible!" Enjolras laughed as he threw his backpack into the back seat and slid into the passenger one.

Cosette rolled her eyes, but couldn't manage to suppress a chuckle as Enjolras started to make car noises as he acted out a high speed car chase.

"Calm down." Cosette said as she got behind the wheel, "Boys and cars. Unbelievable."

The ride to school was short, but silent and awkward. The only noise was 'Happy' by Pharell coming through the radio, but neither of the teens really felt like singing along.

They parked in Cosette's usual spot near the tree so her car could get some shade and stepped out onto school grounds. The air was cold and windy because it was morning and Cosette shivered a bit as she looked down at her poor outfit choice for the cold: short shorts and a pink tank top covered by a white knit cardigan. It was just getting to that point where summer was coming to a close and fall was just around the corner. Cosette wished it would stay warm, she hated the cold, but she knew that it had to end sometime. Of course Enjolras was wearing his red fleece so he was fine in the chill, but then again, he wore that old thing in the summer too.

Cosette looked around the parking lot. There were hardly any cars around; school wasn't due to start for another half an hour, but Cosette saw Eponine's small gray car in a spot near the school.

Cosette turned to Enjolras, "Alright, I'm going inside to chat with Eponine. Do whatever you want, just don't interrupt us."

Enjolras scoffed, "Yeah, like I'd want to get in on your little gossip session anyway. I'm going to talk to Mr. Stamos to get some more studying in for the big history test." He started off in the direction of the building. Cosette followed, at a reasonable distance of course.

"Oh, and Enjolras?" Cosette called.

"Yeah?" he replied, whipping his head around to look at the girl.

Cosette didn't exactly know how to word what she wanted so say, "Just, let's not… um… let anyone in school know about, well…"

"I get it." Enjolras agreed, "Only our closest friends can know about the new um… _situation_ here."

"Great, we're on the same page." Cosette smiled.

"Yeah, _sis_, we are."


	4. Chapter 4

Enjolras entered the school ahead of Cosette. She was walking super slow, probably so she wouldn't be seen with him. He would have been offended, but he was walking super fast for the exact same reason. In fact, he was actually semi out of breath when he opened the glass double doors into the halls of Victor Public.

The school was nice, now that they redid it. Before the building project, the high school was a pile of bricks in the middle of a parking lot with a shabby Victor High sign in the front.

Now there were three floors, walls with massive windows, and everything was nice and clean. The hallways were painted in red and black, the school's colors, and the walls sported pictures of Victor High's mascot, the revolutionary. It was pretty much a guy with a flag in his hand, but it meant a lot of school pride for the students.

Enjolras had never been early to school before, it was weird for it to be empty instead of the halls crowded with kids pushing and shoving each other to get to class (or, as Enjolras had witnessed plenty of times, just for the heck of it).

There was no one around for him to really talk to. Mr. Stamos wasn't there that early so he couldn't even get some studying in. So he passed the time sitting at a table in the empty cafeteria and trying to finish his art assignment. Out of all the subjects he was taking, art was by far his worst. The only reason he took it was because he was required to. His first assignment was to draw a pencil sketch of a time in history and Enjolras immediately had thought: French Revolution. There was just something about that time that made him smile. People standing up for what they believed in, even if the odds were stacked against them. It had always brought particular interest to him. And it reminded him of his father.

Enjolras had started out paying really close attention to details, but now he was just annoyed that it was taking so long to finish and the initial excitement wore off completely. In fact, Enjolras was seriously tempted to take the page and rip it in half.

Then the buses started pulling in and Enjolras packed up. Immediately, he was greeted by all of his friends.

Combeferre was the first to arrive, his head in a book as always. The guys always called him Mr. Useless Information (like seriously, who knows that if you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom). But Enjolras loved him for it. Combeferre was always the rational one that would talk the rest of the boys out of doing anything. But he lost all that practicality when he was on the soccer field. He was an awesome defender.

"Whacha reading today?" Enjolras asked his friend.

"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds." Combeferre answered, pushing up his circular glasses, "Did you know that the dumbest dog breed is the Afghan?"

"No normal person knows that, C." Came a voice from behind Enjolras. It was Grantaire, the class clown and another one of the group of friends. Grantaire could always either be found pranking someone or in detention when he wasn't hanging with his friends. He was also the goalie on the soccer team, and a great one at that. He could always be found wearing a hipster black beanie and always carried his art supplies in his messenger bag, along with some superglue or a stapler gun or whatever weapon he needed for his next plot.

Enjolras rolled his eyes at Grantaire's comment, but he was thinking the same thing in his head too, but he had the sense not to say it out loud. Grantaire was the one without a sensor (even though one _way_ more than one occasion, Enjolras had been known to loose his temper and lash with his words).

"Whatever." Combeferre muttered, "When you're on Jeopardy, you're gonna wish you knew all the stuff I do."

"When you look back on you're high school life, you're gonna wish you had fun like I did!" Grantaire shot back.

"Break it up, you two." Enjolras stepped in between them. Those guys would have killed each other by now if there wasn't always Enjolras to intervene.

"Fighting again?" said a freckled boy that came over to the group. Marius was the final member of the circle. Always the sensitive one, he hated it when people argued even the slightest bit. He was the romantic of the group who actually took the time to look presentable every morning with a button down shirt and kakis most of the time- even though Victor High didn't have a school dress code or uniform. He was a midfielder on the soccer team. Also, he was Enjolras's best and most trusted friend out of all of them.

"Whatever, man." Grantaire laughed as he playfully pushed Combeferre. The two of them were friends through think and thin, even if they had their differences.

"I have to go to class." Voiced a worried Combeferre as he looked at his watch. The boys all teased him for wearing a stupid clunky watch, but they all really liked that when in class, one of them could mouth _how much longer_.

"Aww, me too." Grantaire mumbled, "If I even go in a hair late to precalc Mrs. Kelley will give me a detention. She says she's 'just about had enough of me'."

Enjolras snickered, "It's the second week of school now. How could you already be on your teachers' lists?"

"Maybe they talked to mine from last year." Grantaire grumbled, "See ya!" And with that the curly dark haired boy left with Combeferre, trying to push people out of his friend's way. With a book up to his face, Combeferre was bound to bump into someone unless Grantaire didn't move them.

Then it was just Enjolras and Marius. Enjolras knew that he wanted to get the whole secret thing right off his conscious right then and there.

"Hey, can we talk?" He asked his friend.

Marius raised an eyebrow; it wasn't every day that Enjolras needed help. But he nodded anyway.

"Alright." Enjolras said, and with that he led Marius to the farthest table in the cafeteria, where they could talk in private.

"What's going on?" Marius asked as soon as the pair sat down.

Enjolras took a deep breath, "Things well… they changed a lot over the weekend."

Marius gave him a blank, quizzical look.

"I don't even know how to say this…" Enjolras spoke.

"Whatever it is, I'll try to help in any way I can." Marius said, trying to coax his friend out of his shell.

Enjolras looked at the celling, "I don't even know where to start."

Marius sighed, "Spit it out already! Just say it- I won't judge."

Enjolras looked everywhere but his best friend's eyes.

"I've got a stepfather and a stepsister."

Marius at first looked stunned, then he started laughing.

"What!?" exclaimed Enjolras, offended.

"It's just that," the freckled faced boy said between laughs, "I thought you had gotten a girl pregnant or something. I wasn't expecting something so different!"

"But this is serious." Enjolras was regretting telling his friend at all now.

"What do you mean?" Marius responded, dumbfounded.

"My mom got engaged. We're living with him now and his daughter."

Marius hesitated, unsure whether he was supposed to be congratulating him or sympathizing, "I'm confused. Is it good, or bad?"

"Bad."

"Is he a jerk?" Marius asked, concerned, "He didn't hurt you or anything, right?"

Enjolras forcefully shook his head, "No, no that's fine, but the thing is…"

"He's not your father." Marius answered knowingly. He was the only one of his friends who went through the time when Enjolras's mother got the letter that her husband had been killed overseas, fighting bravely to save a fellow soldier's life. Grantaire hadn't been suspended from his old school yet and Combeferre was being homeschooled. It had been hard to see his fearless leader crumbling, but now it had been a couple years and Enjolras was more or less back to normal. But still whenever someone mentioned him, Enjolras got this pained look in his eyes.

Something Marius was sad to see right now.

"Yeah." Enjolras admitted, "But there's more."

"What do you mean?" Marius asked slowly.

"I mean, we both know his daughter." Enjolras said.

"Who is she?"

Enjolras looked at his friend with a serious expression.

"Cosette Valjean."

Enjolras and Marius's first class they had together, environmental science AP. Something they shared with Cosette and Eponine.

When the two first sat down at their lab table at the back of the room, Marius was practically staring at Cosette who was sitting with Eponine at the lab table across from them.

Enjolras elbowed his friend, "Quit being so obvious." He muttered.

Marius quickly looked down to his paper, "Sorry, it's just so weird. I mean, you two could be twins."

"Please don't say that." Enjolras groaned.

He, for one, refused to give a glance to the blonde girl. It looked like she was trying to avoid him too from the way she turned her entire chair to talk to Eponine instead of just twisting her head.

Just then the door shot open and a middle aged man with a big belly and gray beard swaggered into the classroom. Everyone immediately quieted down at his entrance.

"Good morning, students." Mr. Javert practically yelled at his class without even meaning it at all. The best thing about having Javert first thing every morning was that he woke you up instantly with his booming voice. The worst was the pop quizzes and the pounds of homework and horrible attitude he gave to everyone who steps foot in his classroom.

So generally, he was the most hated teacher in the school.

Everyone called him Inspector Javert because he ran his class like a prison.

"Today we are going to be defining vocabulary words for a test _tomorrow_."

A few students groaned, including Enjolras and Marius.

"And I don't want to hear a peep out of _any_ of you." Javert threatened.

They were passed a paper with three long columns of words to define. Taking out their books, the class started right away while Mr. Javert filed his nails at the front of the classroom. Everything was silent.

"He's giving himself a manicure." Enjolras whispered to Marius after about the fifth word to define.

Marius laughed out loud, and then realized what he did and panicked.

Javert stood up and wobbled to the back of the classroom where Enjolras and Marius looked really scared.

"What did I say, boys?" Javert growled.

"Um, well..." Enjolras stammered.

"WHAT DID I SAY!?"

"You said to be quiet." Marius yelped.

The class sort of snickered at their discomfort.

"You two need to be stopped." Javert said to himself, deep in thought. "Enjolras," Javert commanded, "switch seats with Miss. Valjean."

"What?!" Cosette practically shrieked, she gave a death glare to her stepbrother.

"NOW!"

Enjolras quickly packed up his stuff. Marius gave a smile of apology to his best friend and Enjolras walked over to his sister's desk.

"Nice going." Cosette hissed as she started picking up her stuff, "This was the only class I got to sit with Eponine."

"Oh no, something went wrong for Miss Princess." Enjolras growled under his breath sarcastically.

"Don't you call me that again." Cosette warned, but making hardly a sound.

"Oh I'm so scared." Enjolras mocked through his teeth.

"Speed it up you two!" yelled Mr. Javert from the front of the classroom. Cosette gave one last dirty look to her stepbrother and slid by him to her new desk.


End file.
